Arus:
The Voltron Force had arrived back on Arus after their mission to Ryll. It had not been an easy one, for they had almost been killed. The slaves that had escaped either had been captured or had been killed before they got there, for the only thing waiting there were renagade guerillas in stolen Doom fighter ships. The lionships were able to fight them, cutting their numbers down, but it had not been an easy battle.
Still no word on Princess Allura, although Zarkon had assured Coran he had several leads. There was an uneasiness about Zarkon's investigation, although no one would say what. They all suspected that Lotor had the Princess, although there were no demands to bring Voltron to him or any attacks. Everyone was on edge for they felt something-everything was wrong somehow. And it seemed that Marshal Amalgamus was of no help lately.
Keith had been recalled tempotarilly to Caeyl,a planet on the far side of the galaxy for some reason or other by Marshal Amalgamus,almost at the moment they returned to Arus.
The other VF members were all kept busy on Arus, but still, they all felt as if they were kept busy for a reason. All wanted to find Allura, but it seemed as if whenever they had a free moment,it was taken up by Galaxy Garrison business.
Coran kept in constant contact with Zarkon, although he too, had a sense of uneasiness. After all, he was dealing with the murderer of King Alfor-never mind he had seemed to changed for the better.
As far as Allura was concerned, sometimes he wished she was married and safe, instead of constantly risking her life out in the open. He too suspected she was with Lotor, and he shuddered to think her with him-a monster both inside and out. He prayed that she would be found soon and returned to them safe.
Prince Lotor's Dharkwynd Castle:
Allura woke up and heard someone moan in pain. It was Lotor, she was sure of it. She got up and grabbed the robe that was provided for her.(Lotor had a whole wardrobe of clothing made for her.)
Allura got up and went down the hall towards his room. She tried the door. It was unlocked. She opened it, and in the darkness, she could see him,kneeling on the floor, his body writhing in pain. She went to him, knelt beside him and held him as he shook. He was in so much pain he didn't notice. Then suddenly, he screamed and his head came up. She saw the gleam of his metallic face in the soft glow of the stars that shone through the windows and she knew.
His head came down again and he moaned. Allura kept holding him. She said, "It's all right. I've got you. Hold on, Lotor, hold on."
He moaned, "Allura, nooo..."
She said gently, "Shh..be still, I've got you..it's all right.."
Lotor kept his head down and said, "Get out, Allura."
She said, "No, I will not. You're hurt. I'm staying with you.."
Lotor raised his head and he said angrily, "You want to stay with a monster? I don't want you to see me!" He pushed her away from him and evidently he pushed a little too hard, for she fell on her backside on the floor. She cried out, "Ouch!"
Forgeting his anger, Lotor came to her and said, "I've hurt you! " He helped her up and said, "I'm sorry, Allura." He turned his face away. She took her hand and turned his now hideous metal face towards her. She said, "I 've seen you this way. Why did you hide?"
He jerked away from her and said, "Why? Because I want your love, Allura! And you cannot love one such as me..not like this, even though I have tried to convince you in the past."
Allura said, "You have to change inside, Lotor."
He said, "Oh? Do you really believe that if tommorrow I were to march into Alliance headquarters and give the location of the lazon and then become a fine,good citizen of the Alliance that people would praise me and love me for myself?" He snorted and said, "Hardly! They'd look at my face and my body and they would say, "he derserved it!" You feel the same way, I suppose."
He turned away, his back towards her. She came up behind him and said,"Lotor, I have never felt that way. No one derserves what you've gone through-what you're still going through, but you've got to stop this somewhere! Destroying Voltron will not give your old life back-if you're right about your father, all it will do is help him gain the upper hand! Do you really want that?"
She placed her hand upon his shoulder and he turned, facing her. She gasped. Before her eyes, his face was changing! The metal was melting away, revealing the azure skin she remembered from long ago. Within a span of a few moments, he was the handsome prince again. She said, "That didn't hurt?"
He shook his head, "No, it only hurts when I change back." He took his arms and held her to him.
Allura said, "Lotor, what is going on?"
He said,'It is an-exlixir.." He did not want to reveal Hagar's prescence to her, at least not yet. "It has special properties-if I can gain the love of one person, the effect will be permanent."
Allura said, "So that why you brought me here.."
He said quietly, "Yes, you were the only one who ever showed mercy to me, even when I looked like I did. I thought that if I looked like I was before that battle , I could get you to love me..I still can, you know."
He kissed her softly and said, "All I want is your love, Allura." He kissed her again, and she kissed back, lost in it's intensity.
He drew back and said, "Could you love me, Allura?"
She said,"I don't know, Lotor."
He smiled and said, "Ah..I guess that is better than no, isn't it?"
She drew back and said, "Maybe I should leave now, Lotor." He didn't let go of her. "No, stay with me."
Allura started to struggle. "Lotor, let me go, please!"
His mouth tightened. "I will not, Allura!" He kissed her again, this time possessively.
She broke away, gasping. "That is the reason I cannot love you, Lotor! You force yourself on me! Your love would be brutal and cruel, and even if it wasn't , you'd still show no mercy, no kindness to others! You'd be cruel as your father was!"
His eyes narrowed. "Don't mention my father to me, Allura!"
She yelled, "Why? You seem to follow everything he taught you! When will you see, Lotor, that evil won't get you what you want? Look what it has done to you!" Her tone softened and then she placed her hand gently on his face. "Please, Lotor..think about it. Love must have solid ground to grow. I beg of you - stop this madness."
His face softened and he said, "I will think about it, Allura, but I will not let you leave. You must stay - please."
He kissed her gently, his full lips warm and tempting. They stayed like that for a long time, and then Allura broke away and said, "Lotor, I think I had better leave now."
He smiled and said, "Are you sure?"
She said, 'Yes, I-um.." He cut her off and kissed her again. She responded again and broke away, her thoughts confused. "Please, Lotor, I really need to go."
Lotor reluctantly let her go and said, "If you must, Allura. I will see you in the morning."
She looked at his sad face and almost reconsidered. But she knew if she stayed, there would be a danger of giving in to him, and she didn't know if she was truly ready for that or not. She went towards the door and said, "Lotor, if you need me..."
He said, "I will, Allura, go to bed." She smiled and then she left. Lotor went to his bed. He laid there for a long time and thought about what she said.
Earth, New San Francisco, near Alliance HQ:
Zarkon rested in his spacious apartment near the Alliance headquarters and smiled to himself. Things were going according to plan. Ah,he was thankful he had prepared all those years ago,for such a time as this. He should have done this years ago, but he had been impatient, much like his son was, and wanted to take the galaxy by storm. He almost did too. Of course, Alfor had to stand in his way, and then his stubborn daughter. But in the end, things would work out to his advantage. He smiled as he thought of all the people behind him, secretly amassing troops, ships- a combination of Alliance ships and former Doom cruisers. Oh yes, when he had turned aside his ways, he gave his ships to the Alliance, which they were grateful for. He was so generous. So kind. He laughed out loud, and sipped his Maladoryan brandy.
The fools! Soon they would know who their master was. They would all be his slaves and King Zarkon would reign again, this time with Voltron. No longer would he be Defender of the Universe, but of the Empire.The Voltron Force fools would be the first to die in the robeast games he would hold again. Oh yes..he still had robeasts! Hagar had stored their eggs in hibernation long ago, in the event of an emergency.
He would enjoy seeing them die, their screams of agony as they are torn limb from limb. He would make Princess Allura watch it all. He would enjoy seeing her horrified face as she saw her friends torn apart. He anticipated his victory, and to think his son would bring it all about!
He would depart for Eurydis soon, for that was where his son had the Princess, and he would have Amalgamus go to where Lotor hid the lazon and retrieve it. Oh, he knew all along where Lotor had hidden it. He knew before the final battle of Doom's forces. When he found his son had a slim chance to survive, he decided to simply let his son take the blame.
Zarkon leaned back and continued to sip his brandy. He would go and get his son and the Princess and become the hero of the Alliance for capturing his dangerous son who had kidnapped the lovely princess.It would be one of his last acts as an upstanding citizen of the Alliance.
The killing of the Voltron Force would be his first act as King of the Denubian Galaxy.
Eight
Chapter Eight:Dharkwynd Castle:Escape and Rescue
Allura awoke early the next morning, still no closer to finding a way to escape than she was last night. Of course, her sojourn into Lotor's room last night didn't help any. She felt for him. He was such a complex man-a confusing man. He was filled with both love and hate. Tenderness and cruelty. He never could reach the middle ground. She did not want to see him destroyed, even after all the things he had done. She saw a spark of goodness in him-something that she never saw in Zarkon,despite all his acts of kindness. Acts were all they were. If only there was a way she could help Lotor -to heal him -
.."Daughter,yours is a special destiny-for you will heal the breech."
Father?! What? Wait!
Her father's wandering spirit had dissappeared. Had he really been there?
She shook her head. It didn't seem possible. Why hadn't rescued her? Dismissing her troublesome thought, Allura wondered if anyone was up.
If there wasn't, perhaps she should make her escape now, before she changed her mind. She knew that she was the only who could help him,and yet,she had her duty too. She was sure her friends and Coran were worried sick about her, not knowing where she was. And Eurydis was a dificult planet to find and get to.
The only reason she was able to get here was because she had been expected. Lotor had said that there were slavers about, but surely they wouldn't be about this early?
As for not knowing her way, surely she could remember somehow. They hadn't gone very far. Of course, she would have to take one of the shuttles, but perhaps she could rig one up to go. She smiled. It was something Hunk had taught her.
He had called her the Hotwire Princess for a week until Coran had happened to hear and had ask what he meant by that.She remembered how embarrased Hunk had been! Still, this unorthodox skill would come in handy now. She decided to take the risk and go. She would leave Lotor a note though,for she did not want him to think she did not care at all.
Finding some paper in a small dainty desk, she hastily wrote her goodbye and said if he considered her words and wished to change, to come to Arus and she would vouch for him. She dressed quickly in her VF uniform, but did not put the disguise on that she had on before. It would hinder her too much. She peeked out the door and saw no one. Making her way to the dining area, she looked around and saw a short hallway. She remembered going through that before. The house was deathly quiet, so she proceeded ahead. She went through the hallway and tried the door. She went through and saw she was in a small shuttle bay. A shuttle was there.
She thought..it must have been the one we were in before, lets see if what Hunk taught me works.
She got in and reached under the main computer board and yanked it out. She peered at the m'board and hoped that this one carried the same flaw that most shuttles had. She found the small chip and taking her nail, indented it slightly. It was amazing how simple this was. She raised up and punched in the computer system. Darn! No override! She should have known that a shuttle on a smuggler's planet wouldn't be so easy to take. She would have to go on foot. She left the shuttle and found a small door to the left of the shuttle bay doors. Again, it gave easily. Evidently Lotor's hideaway was so secure that he could leave the doors this way. Either that, or they were one way doors-able to get out but not in again without a code or something.
She looked around and saw that she was in a mountainous region. How in the world was she going to get down? Suddenly, she heard a noise. She whipped around and felt for her blaster. Oh no! It wasn't there! She faced two rough-looking men who regarded her with bleary eyes.
One of them said, "Well, well..he musta got a girl brave enough to stay with him."
The other man laughed and said, "Yeah, and isn't she a beaut?"
Allura said, "Stay away! I can defend myself!"
One of the men grinned and said, "Feisty, aren't you?"
The shorter of the two whipped out a small blaster and said, "Girl,you'll come with us quietly."
She said, "No!" and the taller man lunged for her, tripping her. She screamed and fought him. He growled. "You're coming with us, girlie!" And then he kissed her roughly.
The other man yelled, "Hey, don't hurt her - gonna sell 'er, idiot!"
The other man said, "Shut up! I won't hurt her - much.." He tried to kiss her again, when suddenly she heard the other man scream. The scream was abruptly cut off. The man above her turned to see what was the matter when Allura took advantage of him and kicked him in the groin.
The man was jerked up suddenly by a tall figure. It was Lotor! But this was not the handsome Lotor, but the one who was known as a monster, the war criminal, the most hated man in the universe. Lotor jerked the man high in the air, his powerful bionic arm lifting him with ease.
He growled, "You have a lot of nerve coming here, Zurl.."
The man dangling from his arm stammered and said, "I didn't know she was yours! Honest!"
Lotor said, "Tell me another lie, Zurl.."
Ruthlessly, Lotor snapped the man's neck, killing him. Allura winced as his body hit the ground. The other man was dead too.
Lotor turned to her and said, "I warned you, Allura-you're fortunate that I still have excellent hearing."
Allura thought,..of course he would, the way he is..She said, "You cannot blame me for trying.I will try again."
He took his hand and pulled her up gently. He said, "No, you won't.I will keep you safe." and before she could stop him, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back inside.
Chapter Nine
Beyond Denubian Home